


SUBernatural - Finding Nemomi

by Shaleschnueffler



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Animals, Animals, Awesome Rowena MacLeod, Bad Puns, Castiel and Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Character Death, Chuck Lives, Chuck Shurley is God, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Cute Jack Kline, Dolphins & Whales, Emotional Hurt, Family, Fights, Finding Nemo (2003) References, Friendship, Gen, Islands, Jack Kline Loves Nougat, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kidnapping, Loyalty, Lucifer (Supernatural) in the Cage, Magic, Manipulation, Misunderstandings, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Ocean, POV Alternating, POV Second Person, Please Don't Hate Me, Please K(r)ill Me, Potions, Potions Accident, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Gabriel, Protective Jack Kline, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Resurrection, Sam Winchester is Called Samuel, Sam Winchester is So Done, Team Free Will, Team Free Will 2.0, Team as Family, Wahlmonarchie, Whale Brothers, Whales, What Have I Done, fins, orcas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 08:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaleschnueffler/pseuds/Shaleschnueffler
Summary: The nation is suffering from the queen's dictatorship but no one has ever evendaredto merelyconsiderthe idea of a rebellion - except for six brave friends who decided to take things into their own fins. But abducting the leader of the largest kingdom in the ocean turns out to be more difficult than anything they have ever done before, and therefore harder than any of them would've originally thought.Mostly because at one point, everything begins to spiral out of control; and neither Sam nor Dean know just how to fix the mess that they've made.





	SUBernatural - Finding Nemomi

**Author's Note:**

> I really don't know what I have done. 100% crack, I guess, but treated seriously. Please read this, I wasted so much time on this, holy shit. Huge shout-out to my friends Alice_huhhuhhhu and Julius, and to my sister aka straightjacket_tapdancer, for giving me ideas, and for motivating and inspiring me to finish this. I would've given up somewhere along the way without you guys. Also, thanks to the two guys who brought me a whole load of chocolate last Thursday. I really needed the sugar over the past three days. Wow, that's so sad because it's an 8k crack fic. Whatever.  
> Enjoy!

In the kingdom, most creatures lived in peace, and unison.  
  
There were whales, like Balthazar who often spent his time near the wrack of a huge cruiser, and kept talking about how he desperately wanted to unsink the ship because he always hit his head on it if he didn't pay attention. There were dolphins like Charlie, and fish like Oskar that nobody really cared about, and sharks like Azazel, and even seahorses like Roger, Green, and Black. And although nobody knew how exactly they'd managed to get there, Metatron the smug narwhal, and Samandriel, a light brown harbor seal, had also been accepted and welcomed to the kingdom the second they had gotten even _close_ to one of Nemomi's loyal wardens.  
  
Nemomi. The name that made thousands of creatures tremble in both fear and awe. Nemomi, also called the humpback queen. She was the one who controlled the kingdom, and the creatures; and she had been for many years now. No one questioned her rulership, her monarchy, her authority; no matter how smart, no matter how intelligent some animals were, no one had ever seen through her tricks - or no one had dared to offer resistance to her anyway. Everyone stuck to her rules, everyone listened to her words, no matter how unreasonable, or incomprehensible. Everyone, except for a small group of whales, four cetaceans who had left the kingdom long ago, who were left wondering just _why_ everyone bowed to Nemomi's point- and senseless commands in the first place.  
  
Four strong friends; a family, who had set themselves to put an end to Nemomi's dictatorship. Dean, the dangerous and spirited whale shark; Sam, the biggest and smartest of all blue whales; Castiel, a minke whale with both immense mental and physical strength; and Jack, their young, but courageous, beluga son.  
  
Team Free Krill had been founded a long time ago, when Castiel had been cast away by Nemomi, her personal assistant Hannah and a group of soldiers escorting him until they'd abandoned him in some deserted area far, far away. Sam and Dean had found the minke whale, lost and hurt in the middle of the wide ocean, in the middle of _nowhere_. Unlike Dean, he'd trusted the brothers almost immediately, and had told them all about the brutal circumstances in the kingdom in great detail. Dean and Sam had decided that all the enslaved, hypnotized, and blind dwellers needed help; and after days of discussing and arguing, they'd finally agreed on trying to be the ones that offered the help that all the kingdom's inhabitants needed so badly, the ones that fought for freedom and equality. And somewhere along the way, Jack had joined their group.  
  
It had taken them longer than expected to come up with a fool-proof plan to bring down Nemomi. They had looked for help everywhere, had even tried to search for Carver, the lonely, yet wise whale that was said to be aimlessly floating around in the oceans. Legends said that Carver had reigned the kingdom for centuries. Apparently, he had lost his most beloved son decades ago, and had been embittered and restless ever since. He was said to have healed and cured whole _colonies_ of whales that had just happened to cross his path before, but the rebellion's search had turned out to be nothing but a waste of time. They hadn't found a single fish who'd actually _seen_ Carver, and so they'd given up after a while.  
  
Over a year after they'd founded their team, they'd had finally managed to unobtrusively infiltrate the queen's castle and to hire some trustworthy inside-men that weren't going to turn on them in the end. It had been a painful, and exhausting procedure but now; with Charlie the energetic spinner dolphin, and Kevin the brave porpoise by their side, they had finally been more than ready to dive in to topple the ocean's government once and for all.  
  
And today had been the day. They had been planning their attack on Nemomi for an eternity now, and today they had finally gone through with it.  
  
With their idiot-proof plans and essentials at hand - and, of course, more than well-prepared - they had snuck into the castle, and although they'd worried and feared more than any of them would admit, they'd managed to get Nemomi out without attracting many wardens' attention - and the ones who _had_ noticed the assault had been disposed of within a few seconds. Jack might seem small and vulnerable, but he was swift and agile; and despite his size and age, he was an over-averagely skilled fighter that Team Free Krill wouldn't wanna miss.  
  
Now, some miles and a quick emergence over the surface later, they were finally back at their headquarter, a cave relatively far away from Nemomi's castle but still within the kingdom's borders, hidden away from any soldier or slave that the queen could have possibly called.  
  
Every single one of them knew that someone or something was going to get to them one way or another at some point, and so they had to work fast. With Nemomi tied up with multiple kinds of seagrasses and algae, unable to move, let alone escape; they only had to wait for her to wake up from her unconsciousness before they could interrogate her.  
  
They'd originally wanted to simply wait but Dean, being his impatient self, slapped her with his fin multiple times, until her big whale eyes actually snapped open; cold, stern panic flashing over her face for a split second.  
  
\- "Nemomi", Castiel spoke immediately, swimming closer so that he was face to face with the way-bigger humpback whale, their noses almost touching. The minke whale was small, yes, however, despite his size, Cas was a strong and brave warrior that one simply had to fear - because if one did not, one would learn to. Both Sam and Dean had had to live through one of their friend's meltdowns already - mostly because Jack was an actual troublemaker and Cas refused to let it out on their kid, and so the two of them had to pay for the beluga's sins most of the time -, and it had _never_ ended well. But of course, Nemomi couldn't possibly know that. When she'd sent Castiel away all this time ago, he hadn't fought, had simply been obedient, had left without any objections.  
  
And so it wasn't actually surprising that Nemomi just glared at him with a smug, calm expression on her face, while all six of them could see straight through her facade since the few seconds of pure fear on her face when she'd opened her eyes had pretty much given her away. They were more than willing to let her believe in her own unconvincing acting, though.  
  
\- "Castiel", she sighed, feigned amusement in her slightly shaking voice, and the minke whale huffed softly as he paddled impossibly closer, still not touching her. Dean attentively watched the two of them, his whole body tense.  
  
\- "How do you hypnotize them?!", he demanded to know, and even Dean flinched at the cold, deadly tone. He'd always known that Cas liked to cut short during discussions and interrogations but he'd never, not once, seen him snap so quickly. He once again realized just how serious this was to his friend - because although the minke whale had covered it up pretty well, Dean knew that, even after all this time, Castiel still missed his home and friends back in the kingdom now and then.  
  
\- "I don't know what you're talking about, Castiel", Nemomi said sweetly, wiggling a little in an attempt to escape from the improvised ropes tied around her whole body, without much success. "They just love me, you know? Your jealousy is--"  
  
\- "Sam", Castiel barked, effectively cutting Nemomi off, turning to look at the blue whale who was hovering near the entrance to the cave since he was too big to fit in. Sam looked at his friend, sympathy and compassion clear in his dark eyes, but Cas didn't even seem to notice in his rage. "This is a waste of time. Go and find Crowley!"  
  
Sam tilted his head at him, a questioning gleam in his huge eyes, but before he even had the _chance_ to ask for more information, Cas spun around completely, fixating him with his blue eyes. "A killer whale. He has background information on basically everyone. He's leading the biggest underground organization in the whole ocean. He'll be able to help. You can find his residence near the algae field, right behind the plastic forest."  
  
Although the blue whale felt the strong urge to ask why Castiel hadn't informed them about this _Crowley_ earlier when they'd needed any help they could've gotten to infiltrate Nemomi's castle; _before_ they'd gotten into this mess; he decided not to pose any more questions. He knew that the current matter, and his task, were way more than urgent than his curiosity; and there was going to be plenty of time to get angry at the minke whale later. To Castiel, to his friend, to his _family_ , this mission was more important than anything else. They'd planned and worked towards this for _years_. He wouldn't mess this up, he wouldn't disappoint Castiel. And so he turned around without another word, and swam as fast as he could, ignoring Dean's cackled "It's a _literal_ underground organization, Sam!" as he left the HQ behind.  
  
He was fairly good at directions and at orientating himself, and so it didn't take long until he reached the plastic forest. The area had originally been a green biome in which juveniles played together between the plants, and peaceful creatures floated around, but some decades ago, the place had become deserted and dreary as the plants had begun to die and human waste and trash had started to collect on the water surface before slowly sinking down piece by piece. Now only sand sharks, flounders, and some lonely fish inhabited the region, and from time to time, a whale or dolphin would pass through - just like Sam right now.  
  
However, as he was carefully maneuvering past the pieces of plastic, trying not to swirl up any sand so he wouldn't disturb the fish, he noticed that something was off. Or well, something was _moving_ at least. Despite his important task, this time, his curiosity got the better of him, and he cautiously moved closer to the struggling something. When the unknown creature was finally in his range of vision so that he could see it clearly, he realized that it was a small shark that had gotten caught in a bunch of plastic wraps and other waste it presumably hadn't seen while swimming. Sam knew exactly how that felt. He himself had made a similar experience, back when he'd still been a young whale; the plastic was extremely hard to perceive when one was distracted, which was why most parents forbade their children to come even close to this part of the kingdom.  
  
Worried, Sam hurried to swim over to the shark, and quickly asked for his name as he looked the creature over. There were no visible wounds or cuts, but the plastic seemed to have wrapped around his whole body multiple times, and it would presumably take more than fifteen minutes to free him completely without hurting him. Weighing his options, he heavy-heartedly told the shark that he was in quite a rush, apologizing multiple times in one sentence; but he promised to come back and rescue him as soon as he'd finished his job.  
  
He wanted to help Adam, he really did, but for now, he had to keep going, to find Crowley. And so he did, reassuring once more that he was going to return soon, and swam away, the shark's desperate cries for help breaking his heart in two. But he knew that, right now, right there, it was either saving the kingdom, or saving a single shark. And he had to see the bigger picture here. His family had taught him so. And so he paddled on.  
  
  
It took Sam quite a while to find the place that Crowley appeared to call his own, and as soon as he'd made sure that it was definitely the orca's possessions that he was looking at, he began to carefully search for anything that might seem useful. The killer whale seemed to not be around, and since Sam didn't exactly have time to search, let alone _wait_ for Crowley, he had no other choice but to find something on his own - something, _anything_ , that could only _rudimentarily_ help them with their problem. Silently, he cursed himself. They'd believed that they'd thought everything through, but now that _one_ thing hadn't gone according to plan, they were screwed.  
  
Sam forced himself to stay calm as his eyes scanned the pirate hats and eye patches of different colors and sizes, as well as the stones and fossils neatly stacked up on a shelf, and some suspicious glass bottles that Sam really didn't want to know the contents of. Five successless minutes later, he finally gave up, feeling a pang of guilt in his chest. What if Nemomi's soldiers got to her before they'd cracked her now? What if they got killed for attempted assault, and the kingdom had to keep living in vain? They'd failed, he thought while he turned around, about to float away. They'd fucked up; and suddenly, the sound of shattering glass rang out from behind him as his head began to throb, and his senses started to swim.  
  
He couldn't breathe. There was no air, where had his air gone, why did everything seem so threateningly large around him, where were his fins, where _was his air_?! He began to panic as he choked, and his vision blurred; everything hurt, his ears were ringing, and then--- There was something below him, something he couldn't make out because he couldn't see, something burned in his eyes, and he felt that he was moving, steadily, quickly, but at the same time he _wasn't_.  
  
There was light then. He couldn't see it, not really, but his surroundings were bright, so bright that it hurt, even with his lids shielding his eyes, and then there was air, and cold, fresh wind hitting his face. This didn't make sense. How had he-, where was--...  
  
He decided not to care, and just breathed, as he realized that whatever it was that was right below his body was _carrying_ him. _Him_. A blue whale, the largest...-- His vision had returned, he noticed, and he blinked rapidly; his eyes were still burning, from what, he didn't know. That was when he looked down at his own body. He was small. Or, well, smaller. He had legs. Actual legs. And hooves, and fur--!  
  
Ever since he'd broken through the water surface, his head had felt heavy. He'd blamed it on the dizziness but now, out of the corner of his eye, he could see antler-like things coming right out of his head. He found himself starting to panic once more.  
  
\- "Crowley", an amused voice sounded up from below, and he looked down again, eyes more focused than before. He blinked again, but this time it was because he was more than a little confused. He'd seen bottlenose dolphins before, of course he had but...this one was...bigger. Or was he just smaller? No, he couldn't-- What the hell had happened to him?!  
  
\- "He keeps potions around, y'know, kiddo. You're lucky I was around, otherwise you'd be houndfish food by now. I know you were huge but you really shouldn't mess with his hounds", the dolphin clicked, obviously enjoying Sam's discomfort and confusion, but he kept swimming nonetheless.  
  
\- "How's this even possible?!", the... ex blue whale... demanded to know, staring down at the bottlenose.  
  
\- "Magic's real, moose! Really now, I would've thought you'd have gotten that by now."  
  
Moose. Was that what he was now? A _moose_? He'd heard of them, of course he had, from the birds and the turtles, mostly, but he'd never seen one for real - he couldn't possibly have, he was a whale after all! Or had been, apparently. A moose. In the middle of the ocean. What if he died out here? On the back of a damn _bottlenose dolphin_ that was _laughing_ at him and his misery!  
  
\- "Who are you?", he asked, trying to keep his calm as he looked up and into the distance, eyes searching for any kind of land, anywhere, but all he could see was the wide blue horizon, and glistening water. At least he could turn his head, he figured, before he realized that the ability to turn his head was most likely the only good thing about this whole situation - and that it was probably going to be the last thing he'd ever be happy about before he died. If one could even call it _happy_. It was a miserable, sad, and hopeless kind of happy. He huffed. He was exhausted, and tired, and cold.  
  
\- "Gabriel", the dolphin responded happily, "They call me Gabriel. What about you, hot shot?"  
  
Sam hesitated - should he really tell this dolphin his name? He was a stranger after all. Sure, Gabriel had rescued him, and he'd saved his life, but he still didn't know where the bottlenose was even taking him - maybe he worked for Nemomi, and Sam was going to die by her hand any second now because she'd already broken free from Team Free Krill, and had slaughtered his whole family in the process--  
  
\- "Sam", he gave back, because he didn't know what else to say. Gabriel hummed appreciatively, mumbling something along the lines of "Sammoose" that Sam didn't quite catch due to the loud sound of the dolphin's body cutting through the water surface as he sped straight forward.  
  
For many minutes, not a single word was spoken, and when the wind started to make tears spring from his eyes, Sam closed them with an annoyed sigh. His fur had mostly dried already, or at least his head and back had since there was still a lot of water splashing upwards on both of his sides that soaked his stomach, chest, and flanks. He could feel a crust of salt covering his whole body, and while it was uncomfortable, right now it still wasn't his main problem, it _definitely_ wasn't. Even after all the time he'd spent on the back of the bottlenose dolphin that seemed to never tire, Gabriel still hadn't told him where they were going, and he still didn't have a single clue how he'd even gotten into this mess; but at least he was sure now that his lifesaver wasn't working for Nemomi - he didn't exactly know why, but he had the weird feeling that he could trust his newly found companion blindly - well, technically, he'd quite literally trusted him _blindly_ already, a few minutes ago. He sighed with a shake of his head, and returned to concentrating on the feeling of the wind ruffling up his fur.  
  
At some point, Gabriel slowed down. At first, Sam had thought that his savior had just finally reached his limit, and simply wanted to take a break, or to take it slow at least, in order to recover; but when the dolphin came to a full halt and made no move to get going again, Sam's dark eyes snapped open, and immediately widened in surprise. Apparently, he hadn't imagined the new smell that had crept up his nostrils after all. Right in front of him, straight ahead, only a few feet away, was an island; not exactly big but not really small either - it would definitely take a moose some time to get to the other side. A heavy feeling settled in his guts at the thought. Was this where he was going to spend the rest of life? What if he couldn't find any fresh water? What if all the plants were poisonous? What if he got killed by an animal even bigger and mightier than him?  
  
He snapped out of this line of thought when Gabriel dove under without a warning; and without the support - or any knowledge on how to move his legs -, Sam found himself sinking. Because of the way he was panicking and practically fearing for his life, it took him a little longer than it should have to notice that the water was shallow enough for him to effortlessly stand. He cleared his throat in order to cover up the embarrassment he'd caused himself; already trying to figure out how to correctly coordinate his limbs, appreciating the way the water took a lot of his own weight off of him. Gabriel was watching him like a hawk but despite the amused expression on his face, the dolphin kept quiet.  
  
Once Sam felt confident and sure enough of his movements, he slowly took a few steps forward, heading directly to the small beach up ahead.  
  
At first, he stumbled and staggered a little when he first felt gravity pressing down him, but once he was stood ashore with all four hooves buried in the white sand, he had his body under control for the most parts - and he had to admit that he felt _damn proud_ of himself for adjusting to a new frame and size so quickly. Turning around, he cast another glance at the ocean, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved when he saw that Gabriel was still nearby, watching him with dark, trustful eyes, his gray skin shimmering as the sun reflected on it.  
  
\- "Don't worry, Sammy", the dolphin cackled when he noticed the moose's miserable state, "I'll be back once you found a cure, promise!"  
  
And with that, and with a last wave of his fin, he spun around, and swam away, disappearing into the deep ocean with a last majestic leap. Breathing in deeply, Sam turned his back on the blue water, and stalked towards the trees towering right in front of him.

* * *

  
  
  
Dean was nervous. Okay, scratch that, he was going crazy.  
  
Sam had been gone for way too long. He should've been back by now, he should've-- dammit, Dean should've gone with his friend instead of staying here with the rest of the team! They'd been trying to get some information out of Nemomi for the past thirty minutes at least, but she was still keeping her mouth shut, no matter how much they pressed. Castiel, Jack, Kevin, and Charlie had had to dive up for air multiple times by now, and they knew that it wouldn't be long until Nemomi was going to run out of breath as well - and they still hadn't discussed whether they were going to let her die, or to let her go; or if there was any way to get her to the surface and back down without drawing any attention.  
  
Cas was comparatively calm. Unlike Jack, Charlie, Kevin, and Dean, he hadn't completely given up just yet, and would still swim right up to Nemomi now and then, to slap her and to demand answers, but deep inside, he, too, knew that it was hopeless. Jack had retreated to a corner of the cave, and was watching his family and their captive with squinting eyes. The whole thing seemed to be getting to the beluga, Dean figured. He'd never had a family, and ever since Team Free Krill had welcomed the kid with open fins, Jack had tried his hardest to protect his fathers from any possible harm or threat. Being unable to help, to do _anything_ appeared to do him even less good than nougat - Dean huffed a laugh. Jack still claimed that he'd found the piece of chocolate in the ocean but all of them knew that he'd probably gotten the food from some humans on a boat when he'd snuck out for one of his casual swims again. The beluga had loved the treat, and had begged his family to get him more, and all three of them had thought that the stomach cramps that had followed would be enough to get the thought out of Jack's head but even now he would still bug them about nougat from time to time, annoying the hell out of them.  
  
The thought made Dean smile a little but the short quiet didn't last long.  
  
Kevin was the first who seemed to notice that something was off.  
  
And that was when a patrol of whales burst in through the main entrance, and Dean felt his body slam into the nearest wall as two of them mercilessly charged at him.

* * *

  
  
  
Sam had been walking for a few minutes now, and he hadn't really found anything of interest except for some tasty green grass and a few birds. He tried his best not to wonder how Gabriel was supposed to know when he'd found a cure as he kept trudging through the sparse forest, eyes darting everywhere. Moose needed water, he knew that much. And judging by his dry, sore throat, he definitely needed some _soon_. In his desperation, he'd tried taking a sip of the sea water, but it had only made him cough and dry heave; and now he was even thirstier than before - if that was even possible.  
  
The ex-whale wasn't even sure if he was lucky not to have run into any other animal than some birds yet. He was going to die anyway, maybe some company would actually do him good - even if the company charged at him to rip his throat out during the night. He wouldn't exactly mind right now. It was like his hope had been washed away by the water during their journey to this island.  
  
The only reason why he really, _really_ wanted to go back, was his family. He didn't even want to think about what might have happened to his friends by now; and he regretted not telling Gabriel about the situation in the kingdom. The dolphin hadn't appeared to be a resident of the realm, although he'd freely swum around in the areas that belonged to Nemomi; and to Sam, he seemed like a childish, yet strong and courageous creature. Dean, Jack, and Cas could definitely need someone like Gabriel by their side right now. If they even still _had_ a side...  
  
Sam wagged his head to shake off the images of his mauled and butchered family that were floating around in his mind, and continued his way.  
  
He was lost in thought. So lost in thought that, at first, he didn't even notice the pound of extra weight that settled down on his right antler. Only when he flopped down next to a tree, his legs sore, and his vision a blur, did he perceive the bright red thing out of the corner of his eye; and within seconds, he was on his hooves again, violently jumping around to shake the thing off. With an offended coo, the bird spread his wings and flapped them until the weight was lifted off of Sam's head, and the moose spun around awkwardly to face the oddly-colored crow that had unnoticedly abused him as a taxi.  
  
\- "Who are you!", he growled, and instinctively lowered his head, ready to tilt at the bird that had sat down on a hanging branch and that was now looking him up and down with unusually bright, perky hazel eyes.  
  
\- "I should be the one asking, don't you think, dear?", the crow returned, and Sam was surprised to hear a female voice emerging from her black beak. Something was off about the way she was talking, though, and it took the moose another second to realize that a broad Scottish accent accompanied her words - he knew because he'd swum into a group of traveling British whales once or twice when he'd been younger. But how did a Scottish bird even get here? Had he-- was he so close to the mainland, so close to the humans...?  
  
\- "No need to rush, boy", she mocked, making Sam raise his eyes to look at her again, "We have all the time in the world - or, well, _I_ do. _You_ , on the other hand--?...well, I think you know what's in store for _you_."  
  
As if by command, a heavy dizziness took him over, and he dropped to his knees, legs trembling.  
  
\- "Sam", he rasped, feeling oddly disrespected by the crow that was staring down at him; her feathers were smooth and clean, unlike Sam's ruffled, salt- and dirt-coated fur.  
  
\- "Sam, Sam, Sam...", she thought out loud before she appeared to finally find what she'd been searching for in her mind. "No _way_!" The excitement in her voice startled him. " _The_ Sam? _Samuel_? The _blue whale_? How did _you_ end up here?"  
  
Although he felt more than a little embarrassed by the bird, Sam decided to answer her questions as quickly and in as much detail as possible - she knew who he was, after all, and she didn't even seem too surprised about the fact that he wasn't a damn whale anymore; and so it was probably best to play along for the time being, to figure out if she knew anything else that might or might not come in handy for the moose.  
  
He wanted nothing more than to get out of there, and back to his family.  
  
\- "Knocked over a potion of some guy named Crowley."  
  
Sam would've laughed at the way the lower half of her beak dropped at his words but he felt too tired to do so. A split second later, the shocked expression on the crow's face was replaced by one of pure joy, and Sam was sure that if he'd had eyebrows, he would've raised one at her right now.  
  
\- " _Crowley?_ Could it be...?! Fergus is... _alive_? I can't believe it, how _is_ he?"  
  
She didn't even question how he'd made it to this island after turning. Wow, this bird was a literal coo-coo.  
  
\- "I don't know", he grumbled, closing his eyes with an exhausted sigh, "I never met him. How do you know him anyway?"  
  
Hopefully, she wouldn't fly off now because he'd disrespected her rules and posed a question instead of simply responding like the submissive slave with no rights that he appeared to be in this conversation.  
  
\- "Ooohh, dear, that is a _looong_ story. I can tell you, if you want... but I'm not sure you have the time for that, if you know what I mean..."  
  
Sam hesitated, weighing his options. Of course, the risk was high, but if the bird knew Crowley, then that meant that she might know something about potions and spells as well, which would make her his best, or even his _only_ shot at getting back to his original form - besides, he'd almost died multiple times before and had always gotten away somehow, and he didn't exactly feel like he was dying just yet. And also, he didn't really have any other options anyway.  
  
\- "Tell me", he demanded, "but I wanna know who you are first." He stared at her with the most challenging look on his face that he could master while feeling like he was going to die from exhaustion and dehydration within the next five minutes; and she cawed loudly, flapping her wings twice. Sam was already sure that he'd offended her by asking for her name but against his expectations, she actually proceeded to talk a few seconds later when she's sorted her feathers again.  
  
\- "Who I _am?!_ What, you don't _know_? _I_ am the _great queen_ of this _island_ , the _mighty witch_ , _Rowena!_ ", she exclaimed, feigning an offended sob before she continued, "I would have thought you sea dwellers know my name! You disappoint me, Samuel...!"  
  
\- "I-..." But before Sam could even rasp out a second word, Rowena had already raised her voice again.  
  
\- "You know, _Fergus_ , he... he was my _son!_ My own _child!..._ But he left, _yeeeaaars_ ago...left me _mourning_ and _grieving_ so he could live his life, his _new_ life...down in the _ocean!_ Why take the ocean if we can have _everything above_ , I still don't understand, Samuel!"  
  
Sam blinked, confused. He wasn't sure which part of what she'd said was the weirdest: The fact that her - a crow's - son appeared to have suddenly turned himself into a full-grown killer whale; or the way she talked about losing her own son, with bright amusement clear in her voice, that she didn't even _attempt_ to cover up.  
  
\- "Believe it or not, he was a crow before, just, like, me..." She sighed, looking up into the sky. "He was born _here_ , on this very island, _maaany_ decades ago! I didn't want him to suffer through all the _harm_ those _violent humans_ would have done him! I don't even want to think about the things that they did to my _poor husband_ back then...!"  
  
\- "You're lying", the moose deadpanned, too tired to keep up with the bird's tales. "You sent him away."  
  
Every last trace of staged despair vanished from Rowena's face, giving way for a proud smirk - how did birds even smirk?! - as she bowed her head slightly.  
  
\- "You are not as glaikit as you look, Samuel, _that_ I have to admit! But well, what can I say...you _are_ correct after all."  
  
Sam wasn't sure how long it would take until he lost it completely. Probably not too long if he had to keep watching the crow's facial expressions and hearing her annoying exaggerated accent until she was done.  
  
\- "I sent him away! But he didn't give me any other choice! When I brought him here, this place was _deserted_ , and _bare_ , but _I_ turned it into this _paradise!"_ She spread out her wings in one swift motion to emphasize her words, startling Sam.  
  
\- "We lived _happily_ , Samuel! But _Fergus_ , he... He turned _against_ me! Kept _whining_ and _begging_ ," The sharp tone in her voice was somewhat intimidating if Sam was being honest, "and wanting to go _back_ to where we _came from!_ Back to the _land_ , to the _humans_ \-- how could I have _done_ that to him?! My poor _son_...! Oh, Samuel, you can't believe how much he _talked_ , how much it _hurt!"_  
  
Something changed in her posture then, as the mischevious gleam returned to her eyes. The moose felt the distant urge to bash his head against the next tree - and he would've probably done so if he hadn't felt so goddamn unmotivated to move even a single one of his legs.  
  
\- "And so, I turned him. Into a whale. Told him he could go _wher-ev-er_ he wanted to now! But well, let's just say he didn't... _appreciate_ my efforts."  
  
The only thing Sam was still paying attention to was the way her beak moved funnily whenever she talked.  
  
\- "He killed my beloved Oskar in revenge... I have not heard from Fergus _ever since_...I thought he died a _loooong_ time ago but apparently...he is _still alive!"_ She sighed, again. "Seems like I didn't try hard enough, don't you think, Samuel?"  
  
Perceiving the angry undertone in the witch's voice, Sam perked his head up and began to stare at her while a plan started to form in his mind.  
  
\- "What is it, Samuel? Something the matter, dear?"  
  
\- "I know where Crowley is", he spoke, calmly, "I-- I can show you if you want. If you turn me back, I'll--"  
  
\- "Turn you _back?_ You _do_ realize how difficult it is to _reverse_ a spell, don't you?"  
  
\- "Actually, I don't. But you're Crowley's mother, you-- you're stronger than him, right?"  
  
Rowena seemed to feel almost _offended_ by his words, and so she answered with a deafeningly loud caw of "Of course!" within split seconds. "But _Fergus?_ He is not worth it. He's not a threat anymore, Samuel! He will die _one way_ or _another_. You know, I took his immortality when I turned him." The wink that followed was mildly unsettling to Sam.  
  
However, that was when he noticed something that he'd missed before.  
  
\- "Wait...did you say _Oskar?"_  
  
That seemed to capture Rowena's attention because she locked eyes with him immediately, her gaze stern and merciless but she didn't respond, simply waited for him to continue.  
  
\- "There might just be an Oskar around in the realm. A sunfish. He's been around for...way too long now. That seem fishy to you?", he said, choosing every word carefully in order not to provoke her.  
  
\- "You are _lying"_ , she roared, puffing up threateningly, and that was when Sam knew that he'd hit a sore spot.  
  
\- "I'm not", he informed her, shrugging one shoulder, "Too bad you don't know where to find him... _I_ do, you know...? And I could bring him here, too..."  
  
Content with his work, he watched Rowena, and he could swear that he could see the gears working in her head as she considered his offer. He once again thanked his father for leaving them to themselves a few years after Sam's birth, because otherwise, he'd never have learned how to successfully manipulate bird witches. On the other hand, if their dad hadn't left them, he wouldn't even be here right now in the first place...-  
  
\- "Alright, Samuel. I accept", she declared shortly after, spreading her wings to lift off and settle down on Sam's antler again instead. "But I will let you know that if you do not keep your promise..--"  
  
\- "You'll kill me, yeah, I got that much."  
  
He could practically feel her cold eyes drilling into him but decided to ignore it, and rose from the ground instead.  
  
\- "This way, Samuel!"  
  
He rolled his eyes at the crow.  
  
And so he walked.

* * *

  
  
  
  
Dean didn't know what to do.  
  
When Nemomi's troop had burst in through the main entrance, they'd managed to hold them off for quite a long time, considering that it was a team of five against a whole patrol of well-built and equally well-trained soldiers. But now, a few minutes later, they'd taken the fight to the open and it seemed like they were about to lose any second now.  
  
The water around him was colored red from blood, from _everyone's_ blood; and he didn't know for how long they'd be able to keep going before their opponents would win the battle completely.  
  
His flank hurt, and his head swam; and there was a throbbing pain in his right fin but still, he kept going, kept fighting, because his family needed him.  
  
Casting a glance at Kevin and Charlie, he noticed that they were hurt even worse than him - and surrounded by a group of four large killer whales that took turns at charging at the two helpless kids. As quickly as he could, he sped over, ramming one of their enemies aside and hitting another with his tail fin in the process.  
  
\- "Stay back! Get away!", he yelled at the two of them but before he knew it, the porpoise and the spinner dolphin had dashed past him, right towards Castiel who was swiftly navigating through strands of algae in an attempt to outpace the whales that were after him. When a soldier threw himself right in front of the minke whale, forcing him to take a sharp turn, resulting in Cas getting caught in a few strands of seagrass, Dean forgot all of his pain.  
  
Furious, adrenaline pumping through his veins, he swam as fast as he could, tackling aside everything and everyone in his path, and even overtaking the way more agile Charlie on his way. While the younger marine animals kept the troop at bay that was intently trying to get to them, Dean attempted to loosen the algae that had wrapped around Castiel's slim body like a hungry snake.  
  
\- "Don't worry, Cas, we got this. We got this", he mumbled as he locked eyes with his friend, and saw the pain and the fear in the deep blue ocean orbs.  
  
In the exact same second that Castiel disentangled himself from the green cord, a distressing scream full of suffering sounded up right behind them.  
  
There was so much red. His senses were clouded; the only thing he could see, and smell, and taste, was blood. The only thing he could hear was a deafening swish but he wasn't sure if it was the water around him or his own blood rushing to his head.  
  
\- "Dad!" The pain in Jack's voice broke Dean's heart in two.  
  
A large creature emerged from the cloud of red, and Dean could already see himself and Castiel getting crushed below the force of the attack, when a familiar white beluga came in from the side. Time slowed down for a second. Jack's head hit the flank of the orca that had charged at them with his teeth bared. Dean had always known that his son was a strong whale. But never in his whole life had he thought that he, Jack, a young and energetic beluga who regularly dove up to meet humans, who collected things that people had dropped into the ocean; would be powerful enough to knock a full-grown and fully trained killer whale off course.  
  
And he didn't even stop there. Jack kept going, kept fighting, and tackling, and biting, until there was blood springing from his head and flanks. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. None of them was.  
  
Dean still couldn't see. Not a lot, anyway. Cas was still right by his side as they attempted to fight off their attackers together, and sometimes he caught a glimpse of white skin, or a small gray fin, or a pointed snout; but except for that, there was only red.  
  
Only when he broke through the water surface did he realize how far up they'd actually moved in the heat of the ~~moment~~ battle.  
  
Jack swam towards them, bleeding heavily, and wavering. Kevin and Charlie were nowhere to be seen. This was it. They were done for. Once and for all. There was no miracle this time. They were going to go down - or drown?. Swinging - or swimming? -, yes, but what kind of difference did that make? It had all been for nothing.  
  
The group of orcas came closer, cries of victories and shouts of glee escaping their open mouths.  
  
But there was something else. Something bigger. And it was crashing down on their enemies.  
  
The water vibrated and sloshed around him; he couldn't see, or hear, but he didn't need to anyway. Sam's weight had hit the killer whales straight on, and Dean could've sworn that there was a flash of bright gray dashing past him for a split second. The whale shark had no idea what was going on around him but he accepted it, more than gratefully. His brother had returned. His brother was alive. His _family_ was alive.  
  
Saying that he was surprised when another large whale emerged from the darkness below would have been an understatement. The light gray sperm whale floated gracefully, slowly, and as Dean's vision cleared, he could see the cetacean elegantly maneuvering past Sam's huge body, the tip of his fin just barely brushing the orcas that proceeded to drop dead one by one.  
  
Dean looked over at Castiel who was watching the occurrence with hooded eyes, but despite the exhaustion and pain reflecting in his face, Dean could see awe gracing his features. Jack had paddled closer, and was forcing himself to keep his eyes open so that he, too, could bear witness to their own personal miracle.  
  
When all the sounds died down, and the sperm whale disappeared without a single word; when all the dead bodies had sunk down and absconded into the emptiness below, the three friends hadn't moved a single inch. But it wasn't like they needed to anyway, because as soon as the fight had ended, Sam and his companion had turned around and hurried towards them.  
  
Before any words could be spoken, or any questions asked, Castiel raised his hoarse voice.  
  
\- "Nemomi...!-"  
  
Dean wanted to say something, but Cas had already taken off.  
  
And so he followed; Jack, Sam, and the stranger right behind him. He dove past the floating corpses of the killer whales that had stopped breathing as by a wonder only two minutes ago. The sight was awful, terrifying even, and although he'd thought that he'd seen it all by now, that nothing was ever going to heavily shake him up again, he felt a strong, gnawing feeling of dread in his chest. They would probably have to go after this sperm whale next... the whale who _killed_ by merely a _touch_ of his _fin_... Dean felt his stomach clench at the mere idea.  
  
Lost in thought, he bumped into Castiel when his friend suddenly came to a halt right in front of him, and at first, Dean had wanted to jokingly, coldly, complain - but that was when he laid eyes on what had made the minke whale freeze in horror in the first place.  
  
Deep red blood was still escaping from the deep wounds in Kevin's and Charlie's lifeless bodies, and while the whale shark kept hovering right where he was, anger and self-hatred already boiling up deep in his guts, Cas hurried towards the entrance of their cave. Dean couldn't get himself to look, let alone _swim_ away just yet, too shocked and pained by the image that must've been etched into his mind forever by now already. This was his fault. Kevin and Charlie were dead because of him. He was the one who'd recruited them, who'd let them in on their plan, who---  
  
Jack softly nudged his side, and Dean cast him an angry glance. The beluga backed off without a word, obviously hurt, and took off to where Castiel had vanished to. Sam and the stranger kept their distance to Dean, because the former knew exactly how much the whale shark despised comfort in situations like these.  
  
Everything hurt.  
  
And Dean found himself getting lost in thought once more, eyes sternly set on the corpses in front of him.  
  
A few minutes later, Castiel and Jack returned from their HQ, faces twisted in rage and disappointment and sadness.  
  
\- "She drowned", Cas informed coldly, staring right past Dean who'd snapped out of his line of thought before heaving a sigh.  
  
\- "Who leads them now?", the minke whale asked softly, searching everyone's face for an answer but nobody even considered responding. They'd won the fight, but it hadn't been worth it. The realm still trusted Nemomi, her soldiers were still loyal to her - and sooner or later, somebody would find out about Team Free Krill's rebellion, about what they'd done to the queen and her army. And the nation would be furious. They wouldn't just send them away like they'd done with Castiel back then, no. They would torture and kill them, violently, mercilessly. They'd rip them to pieces.  
  
\- "Maybe we should just leave", Sam said, but again, no response was voiced.  
  
Wasn't it ironic? They'd fought for peace and freedom, and here they were, having killed a dozen fellow whales in their fight for _justice_.  
  
\- "You shouldn't. You really shouldn't", a soft, unknown voice rang out from behind them, and the five animals spun around, already expecting to find themselves face to face with another patrol of soldiers - but instead, Dean laid eyes on the largest false killer whale he had ever seen in his whole life. For a split second, he considered joking about the stranger being even bigger than a _real_ killer whale, which, in fact, made him a _double real_ killer whale-- but he kept his mouth shut. It was way too soon to get the cold, sarcastic, sullen comments going again one way or the other. Even if he felt the strong urge to bite this whale's head off. His mouth wasn't big enough for that anyway. And he had no teeth.  
  
\- "And you are?", Castiel snapped, and the false killer whale tilted his head a little.  
  
\- "I go by many names", he mused, steadily approaching the small group. "Father," He carefully bumped Jack's head with his own. "Dad," His fin brushed Gabriel's snout. "Deadbeat," His nose made contact with Sam's throat. "Eternal One," the tip of his tail fin touched Castiel's back. "Carver," He locked eyes with Dean as he put his fin down on the whale shark's head. "...but that's..." He looked up with a sad smile on his face before he faced them again. "Really, just-...just call me Chuck."  
  
\--  
  
Their wounds had vanished. They were gone, just gone, just--... This had to be some kind of dream. Maybe he was dead. Maybe they were all dead. He couldn't--... He couldn't believe it.  
  
Without another word, Chuck turned around to swim away from them again, and Dean had been about to yell at him, to keep him from leaving, when he saw where the false killer whale was paddling to exactly. Not even ten seconds later, his gray fins brushed Charlie's and Kevin's flanks, and their eyes snapped open after a short moment as Chuck raised his eyes and looked back up at Team Free Krill. Only then did Dean realize that all the corpses, all the dead bodies, had disappeared.  
  
\- "Listen, guys...", Chuck started when he noticed that everyone was watching him with narrowed eyes, the water practically buzzing with unresolved tension and unanswered questions - but mostly, Dean figured, with silent reproaches and a whole ton of painful insults and merciless accusations guided at Chuck, and only Chuck. Most of them originating from himself, probably. Or so he would've thought.  
  
\- "You!", Castiel growled, dashing forward until he was almost nose to nose with the false killer whale. "What were you _thinking?!_ You _left_ them! _All_ of them! They were _hopeless_ , and _without a leader!_ They _still_ are! People _died_ because of you! They needed you! _We_ needed you!", he shouted, but Chuck didn't even flinch, just kept looking directly into Cas' eyes.  
  
\- "Cas...", Sam attempted to calm his friend but the addressed whale simply whipped around, silencing the blue whale with a single deadly glare. Chuck, however, took the opportunity and Castiel's momentary inattention to finally speak up.  
  
\- "Castiel. I know that I...fucked up, alright? I know. I really do. But--"  
  
\- "No! Stop looking for excuses, _there is no excuse_ to justify what you've done to all those innocent people!"  
  
\- "The humans took my son, I-..."  
  
\- "So?!"  
  
\- "Tell me, Castiel. What would _you_ do if your son was taken from you and locked up in a cage so humans could look and laugh at him until he _dies?"_ He averted his gaze, and stared down at the ground instead. "Lucifer was...he was all I had. And so I went looking for revenge, but when... when I sunk the first ship and heard all those people scream in fear, I... I realized it... it's useless. Revenge is useless. And so I just... swam around, I guess. Lost my senses. Grieved, and mourned. And it's true, it really is - it's my fault. And that's why I'm here, Castiel. That's exactly why I'm here."  
  
Dean felt his anger ebb away a little, and when he looked over at his friends he noticed that Castiel's expression had softened as well.  
  
\- "I'm here to fix it."

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
Chuck took over the kingdom again. The nation handled his return surprisingly well. And although Team Free Krill, and Castiel in particular, had been more than a little suspicious of the false killer whale and his rulership at first, Chuck's reign turned out to be fair and just, and the people had everything they'd never known they needed - rights, freedom, and equality.  
  
After Sam had officially introduced Gabriel to his friends, and the others had welcomed the bottlenose dolphin to their family; the blue whale had gone to make good on his promise. So right now, was leading Oskar back to the island, with Gabriel's help. Upon arriving, the dolphin called out for Rowena, and the red-feathered bird quickly turned the sunfish into a dark gray crow. Now they lived happily - at least that was what Sam was hoping.  
  
Once everything else had been taken care of as well, and the initial tumult in the realm had calmed down, they said goodbye to everyone, explaining that they wanted to go out and aid and rescue those who were in need of help, but, of course, not without promising to come back to their home and check in now and then.  
  
It was years after their departure that Team Free Krill returned to the kingdom to look in on their family and friends, excited to meet them all again, to see how the kids had grown, how Kevin and Charlie had been doing, and how their new leader had changed the realm for the better. As they swam past the former plastic forest that Chuck had mostly turned back into the wonderful grassland that it had been before the humans had destroyed it, Dean suddenly stopped dead, eyes fixating on something that the others hadn't noticed just yet.  
  
While his family swam closer to investigate the something, Sam was left hovering mid-water, eyes awkwardly darting from left to right as he realized.  
  
He'd forgotten Adam.

**Author's Note:**

> I normally don't beg for appreciation but please leave kudos or a comment, I spent so much time and brain capacity on this I'm going to cry what the fuck did i do


End file.
